Illinois · Nonprofit
BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE
BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,760,000 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,560,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $15M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $1.8M
- Net assets
- $7.3M
What Big Ten Academic Alliance does
Mission
Big Ten Academic Alliance is a consortium of 18 top-tier research universities, including members of the big ten conference, who collaborate to advance their academic missions, generate unique opportunities for students and faculty, and serve the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and creative innovative programming.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Big Ten Academic Alliance is a consortium of 18 top-tier research universities, including members of the big ten conference, who collaborate to advance their academic missions, generate unique opportunities for students and faculty, and serve the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and creative innovative programming.
$13,939,433 spent$15,262,685 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $13,939,433.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $13M to $9.5M (−26%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
0% of BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Rachel Croson
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $810k → $750k.
From the IRS filings of BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE is better cushioned than half of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 19 related entities
- University of Minnesota · exempt
- University of Chicago · exempt
- University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign · exempt
- Indiana University · exempt
- University of Iowa · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE?
- BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,760,000 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,560,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $1,760,000 in grants to BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,560,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BIG TEN ACADEMIC ALLIANCE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Big Ten Academic Alliance →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 2 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing